


Juhaniya

by AL Caron (Lelelea)



Series: Ouroboros Ascendant [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien Culture, Alien Mythology/Religion, Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Universe - Space, Best Friends, Dubious Science, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Indian Character, Lesbians in Space, M/M, Military Science Fiction, Mythology - Freeform, Same-Sex Marriage, Space Opera, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 16:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19337923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lelelea/pseuds/AL%20Caron
Summary: The Commonwealth sprawls across several hundred light years. It is human civilization at its peak, where every citizen lives in comfort and the most beautiful things the galaxy can offer.The Commonwealth saves. The Commonwealth protects.The Commonwealth is crumbling. On its borders, war brews, a steady rumbling in the horizon. The qanfore are tired of human ambition.Kalinda Kaition is an agent assigned to the joint forward operating base Juhaniya, deep in Naga territory. Here, she must act as liaison between her employers and the generals in charge. Her job is further complicated by several things:1. she is not from this universe2. her best friend is possessed by the ancient spirit of a very angry goddess, and is currently being used as a weapon by the Commonwealth Navy3. her very much married doppelganger was double crossing everyone, including herself4. she has vague instructions to start a warUnfortunately, neither she nor her double were very good at following instructions.





	1. Chapter 1

The last of Farah’s bones snapped back into place and her eyes fluttered open, unfocused. She turned her head to look at me.

 

“Hey,” she croaked. Her hand searched for mine and I held it, letting her cold fingers thaw in my grip. Warm hands and a cold heart she would tell me.

 

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

 

“Better than ever,” she said. The color was rapidly returning to her cheeks and she sat up, dangling her feet over the edge of the bed before dropping lightly and landing on the balls of her feet, quick as a cat. “As far as missions go, that one was successful.”

 

I hummed noncommittally. Her temper was always worse after a regeneration and it was best not to argue about methodology while your closest friend was recuperating from using herself as an improvised explosive device.

 

“Your team is alive. No serious injuries,” I told her.

 

“Good,” she said. The golden swirls on her arms moved of their own accord, tracing out arcane shapes and letters before vanishing back into her skin. “How did your mission with the Colchis executive go?”

 

I shuddered, thinking of the cold, wet mountaintop where I had waited for the extraction team to reach us before the CEO’s enemies did.

 

“I hated it,” I said, turning so that she could put on her clothes and dispose of the hospital gown. “But you have it easy. At least the version of you in this universe isn’t engaged to a young upstart who staged a rebellion and became the Naag Queen.”

 

“Your doppelganger made bad decisions,” she said. I winced.

 

“Everyone does, from time to time,” I responded.

 

The slim phone Madhaav had given me trilled and I pulled it out of my pocket.

 

“I have to go,” I told her. “I need to be back at the House of Sophistry.”

 

She snorted. “Congress calls, eh? Earth always comes first. I’ll walk with you.”

 

I stood and the pen behind my ear fell. She bent faster than I did and picked it up, handing it to me. We set off, Farah cracking her joints as she went, testing her steps to make sure the superweapon inside had put everything back in its proper place. As she strode ahead, I watched her tilt her head to the side, listening to it talk to her. Sometimes, I would catch random strings of words when we were together, a conversation of which I only ever heard half.

 

We ascended through the space station, and as we came out of  _ Nasreen’s  _ bowels, messages came flooding back in, blinking in the corner of my eyepiece, each signifying an impending headache. 

 

“Ouroboros demands to know your health,” I said. Farah harrumphed.

 

“Tell your spy agency to fuck off,” she said. Smirking, I raised my hand to let the virtual keyboard appear and she smacked it down.

 

“I’ll tell them that you’re just fine,” I drawled. “A little petty and irritated, but recovering well.”

 

“You do that,” she told me as the elevator spilled us out onto the boardwalk. The space city glittered before us, teeming with life.   

 

“Also, we aren’t spies,” I said. “We’re an organization designed to safeguard Earth’s peace and prosperity.”

 

“That would sound much more believable if you, well, believed in it,” she replied, stopping at a street stall and buying fifteen kebab sticks. The vendor handed them over, looking a little flabbergasted. We sat down, leaning against the glass that prevented unwary people from falling several thousand meters to their deaths, and ate. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend that I was back home again, walking through the roads that wound through Lake Gardens, the place bathed in soothing, dusty heat that smelled of tuberose. The flowers would always grow slyly through the cracks in the walls the neighbors had put up around their gardens.

 

Madhaav’s voice filtered through the daydream. “Kalinda,” crackled the earpiece. “Where are you? The session begins in thirty minutes.” He sounded mildly irritated, which meant that he was very angry. He was a good diplomat, always soothing ruffled feathers with his gentle voice of reason. He was also bad at reigning in his exasperation with me.

 

“I’m with Farah,” I said. “I’ll be there soon.”

 

“Will the Sword of Justice be joining us?” he asked.

 

“Are you coming, Farah?” I asked her. She nodded, her mouth full of tender chicken.

 

“Yes Counselor, she is,” I said, taking special care to properly enunciate the title. It irked my mentor to no end to be called that, and so I did it, more for my own private amusement than anything else. “Smell ya later.”

 

“I have no idea what that means,” he said dryly, and cut the call. I passed Farah a wet wipe before she could clean her fingers on her pants.

 

“Thanks,” she said. “I hate getting grease on the ship controls. I’ll drop you off and then go to the debriefing.”

 

“You’ll be late,” I said.

 

“I’m the Sword of Justice,” she informed me, grinning. “I get to do whatever the fuck I want for the good of the Commonwealth.”

 

Drop me off she did, with less than ten minutes to spare. I changed in the shuttle as quickly as possible, shedding my casual clothes for a much more sleek burgundy jacket, affixing the Intelligence Services cadet pin over my heart. Madhaav was there at the landing pad and he gave me a critical once over before nodding in approval.  

 

“Good afternoon, Farah. Kalinda, have you read the brief I sent you?” he asked me as we fell into step with him. He had tried to smooth down his unruly curls but one had escaped, hanging proudly over one eyebrow.

 

“Only the first paragraph,” I said. “Why are they reviewing our finances again?”

 

“To make sure we don’t go over budget,” he said. “They also would like to know how you are doing.”

 

“I see,” I said.

 

“How have you been?” Farah asked. Madhaav smiled at her. “As well as I can be, considering the circumstances.”

 

“Oh?” she prompted him. He sighed.

 

“Earth approved the design and manufacture of a species of sentient beings for corporate work,” he said gravely. “It hasn’t gone down well in Congress.”

 

In front of the door to the chamber, Madhaav stopped. His shoulders went back, posture straightening. When he turned to look at us, he was almost unrecognizable. He looked like a Counselor, intimidating and impenetrable.

 

‘After you,” he gestured, and we filed in.

 

“Counselor Dara,” greeted the Head Counselor from the bench in the front. “Thank you for joining us.”

 

Madhaav smiled. The Chancellor sat in the middle and peered down at us.  “Ms. Armand and Ms. Kaition. How are you?”

 

Farah greeted her pleasantly, smiling. I examined each of the five humans sitting at the bench, noting the faces and comparing them to the mental roster I had of important politicians. The AI delegate from Earth was there as well and when I locked eyes with them, they smiled primly.  

 

We assumed our seats and the session began. Head Counselor Wu spoke at length, with Madhaav occasionally interjecting and clarifying. It was an accounting of Ouroboros’ accounts, and I was utterly bored. I knew Madhaav must have fought tooth and nail to get me here, but I was utterly uninterested in budget discrepancies and .

 

“What do you think of the Chancellor’s proposal?” asked the Head of Defense. I looked at him and he looked back smugly, aware that he had caught me napping with my eyes open.

 

“He wants to cut the spy budget,” said Farah under her breath. Oh well. Time to perform.

 

“I disagree with the Chancellor,” I said. The entire chamber stirred and sat up with thinly veiled interest. I shot a glance at my mentor

 

“Why so, Ms. Kaition?”

 

“Ouroboros is responsible for protecting Earth’s interests,” I said. “Or, to be more specific, humanity’s interests, but these interests are rapidly growing. We’ve recently terraformed several new asteroids.”

 

“This is achievable on the current budget,” said the Chancellor, frowning. “The Commonwealth military is paying for the cost and upkeep of new territory, as they will be using them.”

 

“The Aimbractam Senate has just slapped us with sanctions because Earth has been using sentient labor for the upkeep of these bases, citing their slave trade laws,” I responded, watching their reactions. “This is an unprecedented loss in revenue.”

 

“You are arguing against your own point,” said the Chancellor.

 

“No I’m not. Please let me finish,” I said. “If you expand Ouroboros, we expand our activities to ensure that citizens will be able to live in their customary comfort and security.”

 

“What sort of activity do you speak of?” pressed the Finance Minister.

 

“The ones that maintain the Commonwealth,” I said innocently. “Protection from threats both foreign and domestic.” I turned to look at the Chancellor again.

 

“Our work secures the safety and prosperity of the Human Commonwealth and by extension, the Rodenthan and Bramara communities. Our intelligence is routinely used by the Ministry of Defense to execute plans aimed to thwart our enemies. Our people put their bodies on the line to make sure that you are safe.”

 

“All of which we have heard before,” she said dismissively. I cut her off.

 

“There have been at least four attempts on your life in the last few months. If we do not have adequate resources to prevent such occurrences…” I shrugged. “Your re-election campaign is going to be a waste of time. There is no point in political advertisements if you’re dead.”

 

“Are you threatening me, Ms. Kaition? That is a punishable offense.”  

 

“Ma’am, of course not,” I said, pretending to be shocked. “But your life is at stake here. There is no Commonwealth without you. Your well being is our priority, but we have families to provide for and protect. We can’t do our jobs if we don’t eat.”

 

Her lips had thinned into a fine line. Behind his back, Counselor Wu’s fingernails had left crescent shaped marks on his knuckles.

 

“You are asking me to justify the expansion of an agency, no, a nest of vipers, that has been pulled up before Congress multiple times to explain its failures, failures which I remind you, that have occurred despite lavish amounts of funding.”

 

“Failures that were not our doing,” I shot back, feeling strangely exhilarated. “Our predecessors had the luxury of believing that they were the center of the universe. We do not, and we must take steps to ensure that our enemies do not capitalize on that fact. Already we have considerable assets who,” I paused to drink some water, “who have been passing us valuable information about the qanfore, among others. If we were to stop supporting them now, we would be doing them and ourselves a grave disservice.”

 

“I would like to add,” said Farah suddenly, “that the classified mission I was on several days ago, would not have succeeded without the support of Ouroboros. Their strategic intelligence gathering is why my team and I made it out alive. We need them,” she continued, “and they need us.”

 

“Humans don’t have three hundred and sixty degree vision. Ouroboros provides support where others cannot,” I said. “We’ll be blinding ourselves, and that is the last thing we need.”

 

For the rest of the meeting, the Chancellor’s eyes did not leave my face. When it was over, Madhaav pulled me to the side.

 

“What sort of assets do we have regarding the qanfore?” he asked me.

 

My hands fluttered a little helplessly. “I actually have no idea,” I told him. “That one was a reach.”

 

He huffed. “Perhaps we should make you our new Public Affairs Counselor.”

 

“No, no, bad idea,” I said. “Speeches like that happen only twenty percent of the time with me.”

 

“You’ll have to brush up on those speaking skills,” he said. “Your next assignment will be to accompany Ms. Armand to Juhaniya and serve as liaison.”

 

“I’ll try my best to not let you down,” I said.

 

“You will not let me down,” he said. “I’ve taught you better than that. Also, the Chancellor will probably skin you alive if she gets a chance, so do not make any permanent, lasting mistakes.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

I had lied when I told them that La had only possessed Farah. The goddess had left traces of herself in me when I had forced her out, furious at the intrusion. She had promptly taken up residence inside of Farah. In this universe, my doppelganger had been the one who wielded La. If I was unlucky enough to be recognized on the street, then I would be bombarded with requests for healing, blessings or pleas to smite their enemies. Usually it was a combination of all three.

 Farah loved it. She took to divinity like a duck to water, making miracles appear out of nowhere. Children adored her, and so did their parents. She was gentle and soft and her voice sounded like a choir of angels, without a single choice f bomb to ruin her image. The goddess strengthened her reflexes, making every bullet from her gun fly straight and true, every punch solid and dangerous. I orbited around her, which was exactly how I preferred it. 

And I? La could not talk to me, but I would dream. She would show me glimpses of my doppelganger's life, memories of another time. It was never enough for a full picture, because only a hint of her was in my head, but it was enough to have me frown and try to puzzle out which thoughts had been mine, and which ones were  _hers._

Like Kay, my doppelganger, I was temperamental and sharp tongued. I looked like her. I acted like her. She had loved Madhaav dearly-one of her most cherished memories was of drowsing next to him as a child, curled into his chest as he carded his fingers through her hair. He had raised her as if she were his own after her mother had died. It was strange to look at him sometimes, because while he had been her father, he had never been mine. Neither of us spoke of it-it was easier that way.

The ship shuddered and I looked towards the door of the cabin. Farah had been absorbed in a drama but she stirred when I did, following my gaze. 

"How's it?" I asked, gesturing to her screen.

"Better than the book," she responded. "Less overwrought."

Feeling peckish, I searched my pockets and came up with a smushed guava treat. 

"Is that guava?" she asked me, her eyes round and hopeful. I tossed it to her by way of answer and dug again, hoping against hope that this one was guava too. Out came the chocolate one and I sighed a little before popping it into my mouth. Once more, I raised the tablet to my face and re-read the data booklet that Madhaav had sent me, admiring the economy and precision of his language. He knew intimately the art of writing a good memorandum. 

Juhaniya was a Naag base situated on a planet of the same name. Hidden away in a cluster of M sequence stars, it was tidally locked so that one side always lay in perpetual day and the other in forever twilight. Madhaav had shown me a picture of the snake aliens. They were tall, with the average height being two meters. Some looked more human than others, and many had several heads. The queen of the Naag had only one, and the lower half of her body was a mossy green, with golden-gray flecks. I had choked on my tea when Madhaav had demurely informed me that Astha was my wife. Farah had laughed heartily as she whacked me on the back, saying that she had never taken me to be the married type. Apparently I had helped Astha to become the ruler, when Ouroboros had sent me there to negotiate their entry to the Commonwealth. In turn, we had fallen in love and she had made me Princess Consort. Unable to come to terms with the wedding photos, I had completely ignored it until Madhaav had told me about my impending assignment. 

"I'm not ready for any of this," I said.

"You never will. This is one of those careers where you learn on the job," murmured Farah, a bit absentmindedly. The dulcet tones of the Abyssia lead singer came on as she skipped the credits to a new episode of _Beyond My Heart's Desire_.

 "Are you sure?" I asked. She nodded, her smile lopsided. 

"An adult is a terrible thing to be," she said emphatically. "Marriage, war, taxes and death are the only things to look forward to, but at least you're married to royalty."

I groaned.

When the ship docked, three human soldiers and three naag soldiers were there to greet us. The naag soldiers bowed to me. 

'Welcome back, Princess," said the oldest one. "It is good to see you well."

"Thank you, Major...?" 

"Dewara," he finished. I could not read Devnagari, so his nameplate was gibberish to me. 

"We will endeavor to assist you in any way possible," he said. "The Queen Mother has requested that your suite be furnished with only the best."

"No," I said. 

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused and more than a little afraid. 

"Are your soldiers furnished with the best?" At his frown, I continued. "I am here as a diplomatic liaison, not the Consort. I will stay in the accommodations that your enlisted are given."

"Milady, that is hardly necessary," he said. 

"It is," I replied emphatically. "Please leave only the bare minimum in my room. If the Queen takes issue with it, tell her to speak to me."

"You didn't have to start an argument three minutes into our arrival," whispered Farah as we followed them down the corridor. "Do you really want to rough it in the middle of nowhere?"

"It wasn't an argument," I whispered back, hearing Madhaav snort at our conversation. "It was a strongly worded request. _You_ can take the lavish furniture instead if you're so hung up about that."

 My unpacking was interrupted by a firm knock at the door. I opened it to let in my mentor. 

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said, crossing his arms. La reminded me gently that he did that when he was uncomfortable and about to lie to me. "I only wanted to see how you're settling into your new role."

"It's too early for me to have any feelings about the matter," I responded, "but I wish that you'd told me that I would be babysitting the Sword of Justice and making sure she doesn't go off the rails."

"That won't be the only thing you're doing," he said. "You are also collecting information for Ouroboros, which you may or may not share with the Queen. That is at your own discretion."

"Share with her?" I asked incredulously. "There isn't anything to share, unless you're suggesting that I feed information...oh."

"As always, I trust your good sense to make sure that everything goes smoothly," he told me, smiling like a cat who had eaten all of the cream. Not for the first time, I wondered if he had used that smile on my mother before leaving her to raise me alone in my universe. Torn between giving him a hug or flinging a heavy object at his head, I nodded.

"Now, when you need to contact me-"

"When?" I interjected. 

"Yes," he raised an eyebrow, daring me to comment further, " _when_ you need to contact me, you will do so on a secure line, using the communication device that I gave you for this very purpose. I will be there as soon as possible. There is no shame in asking for help."

He placed his hands on my shoulders, paws big and warm like that of a bear. "Be careful. This is a difficult and dangerous mission. I won't always be there to make sure that you're okay." 

"All right," I said, not looking him in the eye. "I promise to do my best to stay out of trouble."

When he left, I went into the bathroom and exhaled hard, wiping roughly at my eyes. The eyeliner stayed on through the cruel treatment and I examined myself, searching for any signs of the flood of tears I had tamped down. 

"S not his fault," I muttered to the reflection, "not his fault he's got a kid who doesn't know who the hell she is or what's going on. At least you've got a dad who loves you, Farah doesn't have anyone but you and that dog of hers." 

One of my eyes had turned gold, the iris saturated with the symbol of La's power. I blinked and it slowly faded away. 

"You'll come around one day," said La, her voice echoing around the bathroom. "You are my vessel, of my mortal flesh and love. I am much more patient than you are."

I clapped a hand over my mouth, horrified at how easily she had assumed control of my muscles. Behind my palm, my mouth moved, curving into the smirk that Madhaav had had on his face while talking to me.

"Go away," I told her. "You brought me into this place, and now you want my body?"

 _I want you,_ she said, flexing within the walls of my mind.  _You cannot deny me forever._

Farah and I ate dinner together after she was done with her evening prayer. She watched me methodically tear my bread into large strips, wrapping them around the beans and unidentified meat. 

"Tell me what's wrong," she said.

"La was trying to get to me again," I said. "It's irritating."

"Do you think you should tell Madhaav?"

"It's not that important," I waved my hand, dismissive of the entire matter. "Does she talk to you a lot?"

"She does," said Farah pensively. "Bit of an enabler, that one. More talkative some days than others" 

Enabler was the right word. A sergeant had come to my door before dinner and shyly requested that I do something about the athlete's foot that had been bothering him. With a quip about how I was going to put the resident physician out of business, I had knelt in front of him and then healed it, eradicating the fungus from his skin. In return, he had bought me a board game, explaining how to play it and then proceeding to win every round. The entire time, La had been exhorting me to kill him, imagining blood pouring from his mouth, his eyes. Most of the time, it was the usual snarky comment about someone's dress sense, or intelligence.

"She's a bit bloodthirsty," I said blandly. 

"I don't blame her," she said, "she told me she used to be some sort of godly warrior or some shit."

 _I am the goddess of war and justice_ La said tartly.  _I am also wise and merciful, as the former professions require the latter sensibilities. That is why I have not struck down either of you twits._

 _Lie, deny, defuse, obstruct_ I chanted in my head to drown her out,  _these are the rules of diplomatic conduct. For the good of the Empire, you mustn't draw the opponent's ire._

"Tomorrow, we meet General Behrwa," Farah informed me. "He is going to give us a tour of the compound after breakfast. After that," she shrugged, "I guess we can spar."

"I hate that stuff," I groaned, flopping backwards onto the floor. "You know I can't fight for shit."

"Oh, you can fight," she assured me, "you just hate it when someone punches you in the face."

"Yeah," I grumbled as I picked up my plate to wash it in the bathroom "because it makes me look ugly. What are we doing after that?"

"Meeting personally with people to get to know them," she called after me. "The usual diplomatic _attaché_ stuff. Writing cables, memos."

"Learning on the job, my ass," I said to myself. "Nobody knows what I'm supposed to be doing in this godforsaken place." The thought of not coming here had never crossed my mind, because I was used to being dragged around on adventures that Farah sniffed out.

 "You're my diplomatic _attaché,_ so you'll be advising me on everything," she said. "Then, you'll send whatever you've learnt-"

"Shut up!" I said. With a flourish, I removed the little listening device from under the sink and crushed it under my heel.

She and I stared at the broken mess of metal and plastic. 

"Well, I'm going to bed," she said and plopped down on mine. Within minutes, she was snoring lightly. I shoved her into the corner, set an alarm and then stretched out, popping my leg joints until I was relaxed. We had shared a bed like this when we were children, each seeking warmth and approval in the other that those of our blood had refused to give us.  

 


End file.
